Celts face questions as camp opens

Thursday

Sep 28, 2006 at 6:00 AM

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Celtics carry a lot of promise, but can make no promises.

Once again, the Celtics will be young, even younger than last season, so there’s hope that one, two, three, maybe even four of their young players will blossom and help the Celtics win a playoff round or two this season. But there are certainly no assurances that any of that will happen.

Captain Paul Pierce, who signed a three-year, $59.4 million contract extension this summer, is the team’s one proven NBA star. Wally Szczerbiak is a solid complementary player coming off arthroscopic knee surgery. The Celtics hope Theo Ratliff, acquired from Portland, will give them the shot blocker they’ve lacked in the middle.

The rest of the team is composed of young players who have yet to prove they can help an NBA team contend for a title. Doc Rivers has yet to coach a team beyond the first round of the playoffs, and Danny Ainge, executive director of basketball operations, has yet to show he has put the Celtics back on track.

This could be the year that everything falls into place for the Celtics. Then again, it may not be.

“I like our team, but I don’t know what to expect,” Rivers said. “I would love to tell you that we’re going to win the East, but I can’t tell you that.”

Rivers does like the chemistry among the young players better than last year’s, however. How does he know that even though the first official day of practice isn’t until Tuesday? Because most of the Celtics have lifted and practiced together at HealthPoint on their own since Sept. 1. Pierce has dropped in on occasion, but he hasn’t run up and down the floor with his teammates yet because he’s still recovering from minor elbow surgery. The Celtics expect him to be ready to go by Tuesday. Delonte West has mostly watched from the sidelines because of back spasms, but the rest of the Celtics ran through a scrimmage yesterday at HealthPoint with Rivers and Ainge looking on.

“It shows that they know they were not good enough last year and they want to get better,” Rivers said.

Al Jefferson has dropped 30 pounds, prompting Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck to joke that he looks like Jessica Simpson. The Celtics had no specific amount of weight they wanted Jefferson to lose, the pounds just came off when he worked to lower his body fat. The Celtics hope the weight loss will take pressure off his ankles, both of which he sprained last season. They’re not concerned that he lost too much weight.

“Al’s never going to be a pounding, physical type of player,” Rivers said. “He’s going to be a quick-footed fitness player.”

The Celtics will enter training camp with 18 players under contract, including Brian Grant, who isn’t expected to play this season for health reasons. Of the other 17, 12 have been in the league two years or less, and 11 are 23 years old or younger. The Celtics can open the season with 15 players. Forward Akin Akingbala and center Kevin Pittsnogle, both signed as free agents, figure to be the longest shots to make the roster.

Many expect Ainge to try to package a few of his younger players to acquire another veteran or two before the season begins, but that may not happen.

“We don’t want veterans just because they’re veterans,” Ainge said. “A lot of veterans are not very good players.”

Entering the NBA season, you pretty much know that Miami, Detroit, San Antonio and Dallas are going to be in the title hunt and that Charlotte, New York, Atlanta and Portland aren’t. The Celtics belong somewhere in the middle, and it’s anybody’s guess where. They don’t need all of their young players to develop, just a few, to become a contender. Jefferson must stay healthy and score underneath. Kendrick Perkins must continue to shine on defense and as a rebounder. Tony Allen must defend himself in court and his opponents on the court.

Most importantly, the Celtics must decide on a point guard. Sebastian Telfair, acquired from Portland on draft night, excels on the fast break. West, last year’s starting point, is more of a shooting guard. Rookie Rajon Rondo must shoot well enough to keep the defense honest.

Will Ryan Gomes continue to produce as an undersized power forward the way he did the second half of last season? Will Gerald Green be able to contribute in his second NBA season? Will Leon Powe or Allan Ray be the surprise of training camp? Rivers expects the competition among the young players to bring out the best in them, but no one knows for sure.

Grousbeck knows this much: the legendary Red Auerbach, who turned 89 last week, plans to attend when the Celtics open their regular season at the Garden on Nov. 1 against the Hornets. Grousbeck also convinced NBA commissioner David Stern to show up.

“I’ll need David to be there to keep Red off me when the dancers come out,” Grousbeck joked.

The Celtics have become the last NBA team to field a dance team at home games. Auerbach has long been against such distractions, believing the game should be the biggest attraction. But times have changed. It’s been 20 years since the Celtics won the last of their 16 NBA championships. On the other hand, it’s going to take more than promising youth, dancers and a new HD scoreboard to keep fans interested in the Celtics. They must win.